Building Ethical and Equitable Partnerships (BEEP) in the Performing Arts

Quick Links: About | The Document | Steps You Can Take | Additional Resources | Join the Working Group

As the need for guidance on how to build ethical and equitable partnerships becomes increasingly apparent, APAP released "Building Ethical and Equitable Partnerships in the Performing Arts." This living, breathing document is the result of many months of ongoing work by the APAP Equitable Partnership Working Group.

Building Ethical and Equitable Partnership in the Performing Arts

About Ethical and Equitable Partnerships

This document, presented by APAP, is the result of many months of ongoing work by the APAP Equitable Partnership Working Group, which is co-led by Michael Reed and Rika Iino.

This is an invitation to explore a more ethical and equitable approach to relationships in the performing arts industry and build them upon ethical, equitable, and transparent practices. How can our work always take each party’s interests and needs to heart? How can we better communicate the true costs and opportunities for all sides of an engagement: what do an artist, an agent, a manager, a producer, a presenter, an arts worker, an audience member and a community need in order to thrive and how can we achieve that outcome in every situation?

Join the Working Group

Step 1

Adopt more equitable language in your contracts

Language is important. Defining contractual terminology so we know what, for example, “mutually agreeable” or “amicable” means to each other and in our partnership to ensure mutual understanding and consensus. We should use language that is fair to all parties.

Step 2

Advocate for and model greater transparency around fees

Redefine stages of work, thus diversifying payment structures for artists, producers, agents, and managers. Honor the steps of engagements by restructuring payment plans. Advocate for and model transparency around fees, including virtual content fees, the breakdown of how resources flow, how project budgets are put together. Use terms like “first payment” instead of “deposit,” and determine with each contracted payment what is or is not refundable.

Step 3

Consider alternatives to invoking force majeure

Innovation is a big part of that and recognize that there is no one way to do this. As you reschedule engagements with artists, managers, and producers, consider building in terms that provide transparency on what each party needs to be made whole, including options that consider adequate compensation for the preparation and digital execution of digital performances and community engagements.

Additional Resources

On April 15, 2021 APAP led a roundtable, "Building Ethical and Equitable Partnerships," that highlighted ways in which the arts have pivoted, provide examples of how artists and presenters can arrive at creative solutions together, from inception as well as when plans change, and identify how to cultivate institutional change.

As we prepare a call to action and deep work on this topic, we want to share the replay and resources from the APAP|NYC+ 2021 session "Calling for Radical Change: A Fieldwide Conversation: An Invitation to Ethical and Equitable Partnership" with all APAP members and the field-at-large.

The resource document includes speakers, resources from the session, and dynamic chat transcripts that provide a wealth of information, questions, answers and insights.

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Building Ethical and Equitable Partnerships (BEEP) in the Performing Arts

About Ethical and Equitable Partnerships

Step 1

Adopt more equitable language in your contracts

Step 2

Advocate for and model greater transparency around fees

Step 3

Consider alternatives to invoking force majeure

Additional Resources

MEMBERSHIP

PROGRAMS

RESOURCES

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